Page 278 of My Unexpected Mate

“You shouldn’t have gone that close to her,” Gabriel said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “She came here to help. You will have to start trusting her.”

“Her magic creeps me out,” Mike mumbled.

“I know, me too,” I said with a small nod. “But we don’t have a choice. She is here and we have to trust her. We won’t be able to defeat Victor if we don’t trust each other.”

The guys sighed and stayed quiet.

“She could have hurt me if she wanted to,” I said after a few moments of silence. “She could have hurt either one of us by now. But she didn’t.”

Nick growled, and Gabriel looked up at me. I could see he was reluctant to accept her. I understood him. The dark magic that surrounds Petra was strong, and our first instinct was to fight it. I know that the rational part of Gabriel’s mind was telling him that we need to trust her to defeat Victor, but the warlock part in him was reacting on instinct. And that instinct was to destroy darkness.

After a few moments, Gabriel gave me a small nod. I released a breath I’d been holding and gave him a small smile.

“I want you away from her,” Gabriel said. “You are right, we need to trust her, and I will try to do that. But I need you safe. I need you to stay away from her.”

I was about to agree, when we were interrupted by the rest of our friends coming into the living room.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked as he planted a kiss on my head, earning himself a growl from Nick.

Jake rolled his eyes and sat down next to Gabriel.

“We met Petra,” Mike said.

“Where is she?” Annie asked.

“Kitchen,” I said. “Making coffee with Patricia.”

“Why are you two frowning?” Cassie asked, looking at Nick and Gabriel.

“We don’t trust her,” Nick answered.

“Oh, because of the dark magic, right?” Zack said as he plopped himself down on the couch. “You get used to it. She is not that bad.”

“They promised they would try to trust her, right?” I said, glaring at Nick and Gabriel.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes.

“We should go meet her,” Cassie said.

The rest of our friends agreed and walked out of the living room. Mike followed them.

I looked at Gabriel and Nick, who had a frown on their faces. I sighed and turned around.

“Come on,” I said.

I heard them getting up and walking behind me. Nick grabbed my waist and pulled me to him.

“Stay close to me,” he whispered to me, sending pleasant shivers down my body.

I shuddered, and Nick chuckled. “Later, love.”

We walked into the kitchen behind Gabriel. My friends were chatting among themselves and glancing at Petra from time to time. Patricia and Petra were sitting at the dining room table, sipping their coffee and talking to Zack and Jake. I could tell that the rest of our friends were uncomfortable around Petra as well, but they were very polite and accepting. The only ones with frowns on their faces were Nick and Gabriel.

I rolled my eyes internally and sat down, listening to the conversation between Petra and the guys.

Nick and Gabriel sat down next to me. Gabriel placed his arm around my shoulders and Nick took my hand in his. Petra glanced at us and smirked. They were so obvious. I sent her an apologetic look. She gave me a small smile and cleared her throat.

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